Supermarket/Grocery

Veteran CPG industry executive Richard Lenny was named chairman of the board at Information Resources, Inc., filling the position previously held by Lawrence Benjamin who will remain on the board.

Lenny previously served as chairman, president and CEO of The Hershey Company and also served as group vice president of Kraft Food and president of Nabisco Biscuit and Snacks. Prior to that he was president of Pillsbury, North America and spent 18 years with Kraft prior to that.

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — Supervalu has appointed former OfficeMax executive Bruce Besanko as its EVP and CFO, effective August 7.

Besanko served as EVP of finance, CFO and chief administrative officer for OfficeMax, and is credited with strengthening the company’s balance sheet and transforming business-to-business and retail segments for one of the leading global office supply companies following his appointment in 2009.

Loblaw Companies Limited — which recently announced its plans to <a href="http://loblaw/ investments bolster its Q2 Loblaw Companies Limited, which announced its plans to acquire Shoppers Drug Mart for C$12.4 billion in cash and stock, reported higher earnings and revenue in the second quarter of fiscal 2013 as compared to the same period in fiscal 2012. Lolbaw’s net earnings for the quarter totaled USD $173.2 million, up 14% from $151.8 million. The retailer reported revenues of $7.31 billion, a 2% increase from $7.18 billion a year earlier. Same-store sales improved 1.1%.

PURCHASE, N.Y. — PepsiCo reported net revenue of $16.8 billion for the second quarter of 2013, a 2% increase from $16.4 billion for the same quarter last year.

Structural changes, principally the refranchising of the company's beverage operations in Vietnam and China, negatively impacted reported net revenue performance by nearly 1% and foreign exchange translation had a 1.5% unfavorable impact in the quarter. Adjusted to exclude the impact of foreign currency translation and structural changes, revenue grew 4.2%.

Boulder, Colo. -- Trader Joe’s is North America’s favorite grocery store based on customer satisfaction, according to a new study of 6,600 consumers conducted by Market Force Information. Publix Super Markets and Whole Foods Market rounded out the top three. All three received high marks for courteous staff, inviting atmosphere and high-quality produce. Hy-Vee also scored well on those measures.

Seattle -- Starbucks Coffee Company is entering the yogurt business. The company announced it has entered into a strategic agreement with the makers of Dannon to offer a jointly created and developed selection of specialty yogurt products in participating Starbucks stores and in grocery channels.

Erie, Pa. — Zoom Tan has leased a 1,559-sq.-ft. space for a tanning parlor at Liberty Center II in Erie, Pa., according to Levin Management. Flaum Management Co. Inc. represented the tenant in the transaction.

The 7,443-sq.-ft. Liberty Center II is directly across the street from the 227,000-sq.-ft. Liberty Center, which is anchored by Top’s Markets and Peebles department store.

By Lee Peterson, wdpartners.com

Across-the-board payroll cuts have rarely delivered margins long-term for retailers. Crude cuts are more than misguided today, but a dangerous strategy for stores in the fight for survival against Amazon.

Lewisville, Texas -- Almost six-in-10 (58%) U.S. smartphone owners, representing one-in-three overall shoppers, “showroom” or check for better prices on in-store items using their mobile devices. The Parago Dynamic Pricing Study also shows that Amazon is the number one way U.S. consumers compare prices on smartphones in store.

Boston -- Although Target has narrowed Walmart’s basket advantage, the world’s largest retailer continues to demonstrate its price advantage, according to Kantar Retail’s semi-annual pricing study.

With an overall branded basket 2.4% less expensive than Target’s, Walmart’s overall price gap has still remained within a few percentage points of Target’s, although its lead has narrowed since the last iteration of the study. Importantly, Target’s edible basket was within cents of Walmart’s.